TAMEST Member Elaine Oran, Ph.D. (NAE, FREng), Texas A&M University, Elected to the Royal Academy of Engineering
TAMEST congratulates TAMEST Member Elaine Oran, Ph.D. (NAE, FREng), Texas A&M University, on her election to the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng). Dr. Oran is a Professor of Aerospace Engineering and the O’Donnell Foundation Chair VI at Texas A&M University.
She was one of only six international fellows to be elected at the FREng Annual General Meeting (AGM) on September 17, 2024. FREng elected a total of 71 leading figures this year, each of whom has made exceptional contributions to their own sector, pioneering new innovations, leading progress in business or academia, providing high level advice to government, or promoting wider understanding of engineering and technology.
“I was shocked and surprised that it happened – it is a tremendous honor,” said Dr. Oran of her election.
Dr. Oran is an expert on numerical methods for large-scale simulation of physical systems. She was first elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in 2003 for unifying engineering, scientific and mathematical disciplines into a computational methodology to solve challenging aerospace combustion problems.
Her techniques for numerical simulation of fluid flows have brought better understanding to a diverse range of phenomena, from the tightly grouped movements of fish in the Earth’s oceans, to the design of new engine and propulsion concepts, to the explosions of far-flung supernovae in space.
The equivalent of the NAE in the United Kingdom, election to FREng is one of several international honorific societies that qualify for TAMEST membership. Currently, TAMEST represents three members of the FREng in Texas.
“Being a member of a national academy, such as the FREng or the NAE, means more opportunities to learn and contribute something meaningful,” said Dr. Oran. “For the NAE, it has been working on the Committee on Human Rights. We shall see how involvement with the FREng evolves!”
Before being recruited to Texas A&M in 2019, she spent over 40 years at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Washington before transitioning into an academic research position at the University of Maryland. Now at Texas A&M, she is responsible for construction at a large, experimental facility, which put many of her prior numerical simulation results to the test.
Dr. Oran will be formally admitted to the FREng at a special ceremony in London on November 27, when each Fellow will sign the roll book. TAMEST will recognize her and welcome other new Texas-based National Academy members at the opening reception of the TAMEST 2025 Annual Conference in Irving, Texas.
“I will be attending [the FREng ceremony], but it will be difficult because it interferes with Thanksgiving,” said Dr. Oran. “I [am excited] to thank my friends, nominators [and] colleagues who have supported this fellowship.”
Dr. Oran has received numerous awards, including the Fluid Dynamics Prize from the American Physical Society, the Zel’dovich Gold Medal of the Combustion Institute, the Presidential Rank Award for Distinguished Senior Professionals from the United States government and an Achievement Award from the Society of Women Engineers.
She is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the Combustion Institute, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She holds several honorary doctorates from universities in the U.K. and France.
